Nearly $15 Trillion In Debt Added Since 1982

The United States ended the 1982 fiscal year with $1,142,034,000,000 in total debt (that's $1.14 trillion). This was the first time that the United States had ever ended a fiscal year with more than a trillion dollars in debt.

There are just a few days left in the 2012 fiscal year, and the United States currently has a total debt load of over $16 trillion.

That means that from October 1st, 1982 until September 19th, 2012, the country has added nearly $15 trillion to its debt load.

Let's take a look at the outstanding debt balance at the end of every fiscal year from 1982 until present day. The first big number will be the fiscal year ending amount in nominal dollars, while the second big number will be the inflation adjusted amounts:

First, the outstanding debt number never dropped from fiscal year to fiscal year, despite the fact that the country allegedly paid down debt during the Clinton years. We explain that here.

Second, you probably noticed that the country's outstanding debt load has absolutely skyrocketed over the past 11-12 years. From the end of FY2000 until present day, the nation has added over $10 trillion to its debt load.